It is an interesting contrast: the protagonist (or perhaps anti-hero) of Taxi Driver and the hero of High Noon.
The difference speaks volumes about the changes in American popular culture in the 30 years that separate the two films.
Unfortunately, Kevin Baker goes for the (false) contrast: Marshal Will Kane is a lawman and Travis Bickle is not.
The Posse does not want to get into "You're missing the point," "No, YOU'RE missing the point," -style of discussion.
What we were trying to point out was the deportment of Gary Cooper's character - the reluctant enforcer.
Marshal Will Kane was indeed a lawman - but he was a man above all. He was not a faceless servant of the state, he was a retiring marshal with no need to get involved.
(SPOILER ALERT - stop reading if you haven't seen High Noon)
At the end of the film, he casts his state authority away.
That is exactly the obsession we were talking about - the obsession with state power.
It needs to stop.
One of the successes of the anti-gun left is in portraying cops as someone super-human by virtue of their training and uniform.
They aren't, which is why they can also be provoked into abusing their power in often petty little ways.
That is why we raised the issue of being polite to law enforcement during a traffic stop - regardless of whether it is justified or not.
Cops are not sinister Agents of the State - they are working people fulfilling a necessary job.
When we speak of them in abstract terms, we fuel the notion that deep in the heart of every gun owner there lurks a violent anarcho-libertarian waiting for the opportunity to shoot up the post office and burn their tax forms.
That certainly isn't why the Posse owns guns, nor is it why we carry a concealed pistol.
We do it to provide us with options if a violent criminal attacks us or those near us.
Furthermore, Kevin speaks of the futility of defeating decades of anti-gun propaganda.
We completely disagree: it is a fight we can win and are winning.
It is now time to take that fight to the next level by broadening gun ownership and making fundamental changes to popular attitudes about guns.
Eason Jordan's downfall was not a fluke. Through the Internet, it was possible to punch through the mainstream media's wall of silence and trumpet the truth.
Similarly, by speaking in erudite, sensible terms about guns, we demystify them and thoroughly destroy the stereotype of gun owners as Cro-magnon illiterates making moonshine in their back room while plotting the overthrow of the government.
Gun bloggers are the new public face of gun owners. We need to exercise this newfound ability with the same sense of responsibility that we use around our firearms.
That means no garbage about cops being out to take away guns, because they aren't.
They want to do their job and come home safely so that they can have a nice retirement and play with their grandchildren.
And more and more of them have figured out that armed law-abiding citizens will help them achieve that goal.
Perception matters.
Whether or not he was an agent of the state, the type of calm self-control portrayed by Gary Cooper is infinitely more comforting than the crazed behavior of Robert De Niro - badge or no badge.
Were De Niro a cop, he'd still be unnerving.
That is what we are talking about.
Here is the real kicker: Most gun owners are closer to Cooper than De Niro.
Single mothers in high-crime neighborhoods aren't going out looking for trouble.
Urban gays who simply want to protect themselves aren't actively seeking confrontation.
This isn't a matter of slick advertising, it's a matter of getting the truth out there.
And for that, the blogosphere is uniquely qualified.
I'm quite aware of what image it was you were pushing. The point I think you missed was that you weren't able to find an example of that image in the media that wasn't a law-enforcement officer. The only "reluctant enforcer" image I can bring to mind was "Quai Chang Kain" from Kung Fu - and he disdained firearms as a defensive weapon.
In almost every episode.
I'm completely with you on the demonization of law enforcement officers. My problem with the "agents of the State" is that so much of the public believes that only they are qualified to be armed.
I don't believe that we will be able to defeat the "decades-long slow-motion hate crime" that the media has been prosecuting against gun owners and gun ownership, but we can ameliorate it. Honestly, I think it's a pipe-dream to believe that we will significantly increase the proportion of the population that are gun owners. But it is critical that we stop the decline.
Finally, when it comes to "speaking in erudite, sensible terms about guns" - I do the best I can.
Posted by: Kevin Baker | February 15, 2005 at 12:43 PM